Conspiracy theorists may wonder whether these massive, amazingly detailed ‘crop circles’ in the snow were made by visitors from another planet, but the truth is just as impressive: they were made by an artist’s footprints. Simon Beck walks through the snow in Savoie, France in briquette snow shoes to create his works of art.
Virtually the only man-made creations in this valley, Beck’s art can be seen by visitors to the Les Arcs ski resort. Beck likes to create mathematical patterns, photographing them when the sun is at its highest point in order to capture the dimensions of the printed snow and show off the details of his designs.

Working up to nine hours at a time, Beck has only once chance to get each design right, as the snow can’t be fixed once it’s been tamped. Of course, none of these designs are permanent, but some never even get finished; Beck often finds that fresh snowfall covers up his work.
See more photos at Beck’s Facebook page.